A Guide to Automated Voice Ordering Technologies for Restaurants

Whether it’s the well-known Alexa or Siri, or the automated prompts on a phone, voice bot technology is a robot that speaks directly with a consumer. A relatively old technology, voice bots have improved rapidly, to the point that restaurants can use them to streamline customer service or even integrate them into commerce and ordering. Voice bots plug into phone systems, computers, websites, mobile apps — essentially any platform a restaurant already uses. Not only can voice bots understand and “speak” with the customer, they can also analyze customer requests and study their behavior. That helps restaurants gain useful information and perhaps expand their customer service for low cost.

What are the benefits of voice bot technology?

• 24/7 customer service: Voice bots stay up all night. The tech creates a more seamless experience without delays or as many hold times, no matter the hour.
• Saving time: Thanks to automation and easy-to-follow options, voice bots are a major time-saver for companies. They can handle more requests without increasing wait times for customers.
• Saving money: More customer service needs usually equates to hiring more staff, but voice bots eliminate that notion. Companies who utilize voice bots can manage even higher volumes of calls and customer service inquiries, increasing productivity without increasing staff or costs.
• Added personalization: The best use of voice bots is to support, rather than replace, human agents. They ensure a more personalized experience with the customer if a live person cannot be reached. This is ideal for making quick work of super-simple or repetitive tasks, which will make your and your customers’ days easier.

Why use voice bot technology?

It’s the next best thing to addressing every customer inquiry personally. Voice bots can also study customers’ behaviors to make interactions more relevant to them, which in an ideal world helps the customer feel seen. Having bots take over more menial communications tasks will help restaurant operators turn their time to other tasks. The technology simplifies and streamlines the entire customer service and online sale service without added staff or even hardware.

[Photo by Gabriel Gonzalez on Unsplash]